Celebrate International Women’s Day by Focusing on Workplace Inclusion

International Women’s Day is March 8, 2023. As the United Nations (UN) explains, “The purpose of International Women’s Day . . . is to uphold women’s achievements, recognize challenges, and focus greater attention on women’s rights and gender equality.”

There are lots of ways that companies can celebrate International Women’s Day—and there are lots of reasons to do so. Promoting equity and inclusion in the workplace serves several important functions, from improving employee relations and promoting retention to minimizing the risk of harassment on the job.

Ideas for Companies to Celebrate International Women’s Day

So, what can your company do for International Women’s Day 2023? Here are some ideas for celebrating International Women’s Day by focusing on workplace inclusion:

• Review Your Company’s Employment Policies – Take the opportunity to carefully review your company’s employment policies in advance of International Women’s Day. Are your company’s policies truly equitable? Or, do they promote unconscious bias? If changes need to be made, make them (or at least start the process) before International Women’s Day, and then let your workforce know what is being done to improve.
• Highlight Women’s Contributions to Your Company – How have women helped shape your company over the years (or decades)? Consider using International Women’s Day as an opportunity to showcase the contributions women have made to your company and its growth during a company-wide presentation.
• Conduct Roundtable Discussion and Workshops – Roundtable discussions and workshops can be effective tools for promoting equity and inclusion in the workplace—as long as they are structured and managed appropriately. These should be judgment-free environments where all employees have an opportunity to learn and ask questions so they can better themselves and gain a greater appreciation of the impact their words and actions have.
• Conduct Team Building Exercises – Team building exercises can promote workplace inclusion on multiple levels. For International Women’s Day, consider conducting team building exercises (whether remotely or on-site) that focus on bringing men and women together to collaborate, think critically, and achieve goals as a collective group.
• Form an Inclusion Council – If your company does not already have an Inclusion Council, consider forming one in recognition of International Women’s Day 2023. An Inclusion Council is a group of employees from all levels of the organization who meet to discuss the current state of the company’s inclusion efforts as well as ways the company can improve.

These are just examples. Companies and their human resources (HR) departments can promote workplace inclusion in numerous ways, and the key for all companies is to develop (and execute) a strategy that is custom-tailored to their specific workforce and operations. If you would like some more tips for focusing on workplace inclusion this International Women’s Day, we invite you to contact us for more information.

Schedule a Consultation at The AR Group

The AR Group is a human resources, investigation and consulting company that helps companies nationwide promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. To schedule a consultation at a time that is convenient for you, please call 720-452-3300 or send us a message online today.